MILAN, Italy (AP) - Three armed men hijacked a regional bus Tuesday
in northern Italy and set it on fire after freeing the passengers, officials
said. An off-duty police officer was injured and two of the three hijackers
were apprehended.

The bus was traveling south from Alessandria to Acqui Terme, cities
southwest of Milan, when the men - armed with a pistol and knives - took
it over and forced the driver to turn off the highway and onto a state
road heading in the opposite direction, a carabinieri official in nearby
Novara said.

An off-duty police officer who was on board tried to intervene and was
stabbed, but was not in serious condition, the official said.

The hijackers allowed the passengers to get off when the bus reached
Alessandria again, but then forced the driver to keep going before the
bus came to a stop near Trecate, on the outskirts of Novara farther to
the north, Sky TG24 reported.

There was an exchange of fire and the gunmen set the bus on fire before
fleeing, officials said. Two of the gunmen, both Albanian, were apprehended
and authorities were seeking the third, the Novara carabinieri official
said.

Another carabinieri official, who declined to give his name, said one
of the gunman who was apprehended was being treated for an unspecified
injury.

Fire crews and investigators picked through the burned-out skeleton
of the bus as it continued to smolder. Sky TG24 said the men had doused
the vehicle with gasoline they had brought with them before torching it.